


half a dozen chances

by nightswatch



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Saying I Love You, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 14:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12170316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightswatch/pseuds/nightswatch
Summary: Kent and Jeff go on vacation together for the first time and Kent is on a secret mission.





	half a dozen chances

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taylor_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_writes/gifts).



> Another fic that was written for the giveaway I did on my blog :)

**#1**

“Remember when I said that I totally trust you with this, like, two minutes ago?”

Jeff doesn’t reply, he just smirks. _Asshole_.

“I take it back,” Kent says. They’re driving down a road through the woods. They’re in fucking Canada and there’s probably a moose family somewhere between those trees, waiting for Kent to get out of this car so they can eat him.

“We’re almost there,” Jeff only says.

“You said we’re not camping, but it looks a lot like we’ll be camping to me. There are no houses anywhere. You said we’d be staying in a house.”

“Take a deep breath, Parser.”

Kent huffs and glares out the window.

It’s their first trip together – as a couple, that is – and Kent allowed Jeff to organize it. Jeff said he wanted to go somewhere where it’d be just the two of them, which is fine with Kent, but he still made Jeff promise that they wouldn’t go camping. Truth be told, he’d go camping with Jeff if that was what Jeff wanted with all his heart, but Jeff didn’t seem to be too invested in sleeping on the ground in a forest together with the Canadian wildlife, so Kent wasn’t worried.

He’s worried now.

They’re not technically in the woods, but there’s trees and a lake. “I’m not sleeping in a tent for two weeks,” Kent says, just to make sure they’re still on the same page here.

“I know,” Jeff says. “I didn’t even bring a tent.”

“Where’s the houses, then?”

“We literally just drove past one, you just weren’t paying attention.”

Kent looks over his shoulder, but is quickly distracted when Jeff turns right and drives down a dirt road marked with a wooden sign that just says _4_.

“This is a horror movie waiting to happen,” Kent says.

“You’re gonna like it, I promise,” Jeff says. “It even has Wi-Fi, so your mom can send you pictures of Kit every day.”

“There’s internet in the woods?”

“We’re not _in the woods_.”

“We’re–” Kent abruptly breaks off when he sees the cabin. It doesn’t look like the sort of place where people get murdered. It seems cozy, but big enough for an entire family. The surface of the lake they’ve been driving along is glittering in the sunlight and it’s actually sort of… nice. Peaceful.

“This place actually belongs to my Aunt Vicky. She lets me stay here for a bit every summer,” Jeff says. “Not so bad, eh?”

Kent hums, because he’s not ready to agree just yet, and gets out of the car as soon as Jeff has parked it next to the house.

“Keys,” Jeff says and throws them to him. It seems that Jeff is taking care of all the stuff in the trunk first. They’ve got food for about a week – they’ll probably have to drive to the grocery store at some point next weekend – and a few bottles of wine and a bunch of clothes, although Kent isn’t planning on wearing clothes all that often.

“Leave it, come on, I want you to give me a tour. We can get our stuff later,” Kent says and walks up the steps to the front door. “This place is huge.”

 “Well, it has four bedrooms.” Jeff shuffles his feet. “I guess I could have found us something smaller, like, there’s cabins with one bedroom, but… just in case.”

Just in case someone sees them and asks uncomfortable questions. They’re just two bros, hanging out at a cabin, sleeping in different rooms. “Yeah, nothing to see here,” Kent says and unlocks the door, “nothing gay going on.”

Jeff snorts and follows him in through the door. As soon as it’s shut again, Jeff catches up with Kent and pinches his ass.

“Nothing gay whatsoever,” Kent says and bats Jeff’s hand away. He stops in the middle of the living room. There’s a big sofa and a couple of armchairs, pillows and blankets, a fireplace, and a flat screen TV that somehow looks out of place. There’s a shelf full of books and DVDs in the back and next to it is a doorway that leads to a small kitchen and a breakfast bar. “Nice.” Kent nods at the fireplace. “You wanna know what I wanna do to you right over there?”

Jeff wraps an arm around him. “Nothing gay, I hope?”

“Of course not,” Kent says and bats his eyelashes at Jeff. “Let’s check out those bedrooms.”

They pick the biggest one with the double bed and the ensuite bathroom and as soon as they’ve carried all their stuff inside, Kent takes a look at the screened-in porch in the back. There’s a table they could have breakfast at in the morning and a hammock and a huge lounge. A few wonky steps leads down to a small dock.

It’s not the kind of place Kent would have chosen, but it’s perfect. It’s just the two of them here, just like Jeff wanted, and Kent isn’t even _that_ scared that a moose will come running out of the woods and eat him for dinner.

Jeff is inside, making the kitchen his own, giving Kent a moment to himself.

He needs it.

The thing is, he has a secret mission.

At some point during the next two weeks, Kent is going to tell Jeff Troy that he loves him.

He just couldn’t do it in Vegas. He’s so fucking scared of it and he doesn’t even know why. Probably because he’s never done it before. He’s won a Stanley Cup and a gold medal and the World Cup, but he’s never told a boy that he loves him. Not even Zimms.

But he’ll do it.

Jeff nearly said it once, said, “I…” and trailed off when he saw Kent’s face. He’s not sure how freaked out he looked, but it must have been at least a 12 on a 1-10 Freak-Out Scale. It’s not even that he wouldn’t have been able to deal with Jeff saying it, but he definitely would have given himself an aneurysm if he’d tried to give Jeff an adequate reply. Jeff just kissed him instead.

It worked for them, but they both know that Jeff was going to say it and now it’s Kent’s turn, basically. He knows that Jeff won’t get impatient, because Jeff is probably the most patient dude Kent has ever met in his entire life, which is exactly why he loves him so much. He could put together a whole list of things he loves about Jeff and he’d never run out of things to add.

He knows he loves Jeff. He just doesn’t know how to say it without having a 24-hour existential crisis. It shouldn’t be this hard. That’s what he keeps telling his therapist. It should be easy. It’s just words.

Except it’s not _just_ words.

Kent sighs and wanders back inside to see if Jeff is done putting away their food. Kent would have at least pretended to help, but Jeff is peculiar about kitchens. He hates cooking at Kent’s, because, “Your kitchen is a fucking mess, Parse, you have wine glasses in like four different cupboards.”

“Yeah, because then it doesn’t matter which one I open when I need a wine glass.”

“Honestly, I thought you’d just drink it straight out of the bottle.”

“Please, Swoops,” Kent said. “I’m not a savage.”

Anyway.

Kent left Jeff to it and went outside to panic for a teensy moment. It was for the best.

“It’s okay,” Jeff says when Kent joins him in the kitchen, “you can say it. I’m a genius.”

“You’re awfully self-confident.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve been here for about an hour and you still haven’t asked for the Wi-Fi password, so I’m guessing you like it.”

“I mean…” Kent pats his pockets. Where did he even leave his phone? He had it earlier because he took a picture of Jeff bending down to open his suitcase, just for his personal enjoyment. He’ll delete it later. Probably.

“It’s upstairs,” Jeff says.

“Yeah,” Kent says and sidles up to Jeff. He doesn’t really need his phone right now. “So… what now?”

“Now you can tell me what you want for dinner.”

“You’re cooking for me?” Kent asks and wraps his arms around Jeff.

Real talk, Jeff Troy is way too good for him. Jeff Troy is too good for everyone on this planet. Kent was, and still is, willing to fight anyone who dares to say a single bad word about him.

Jeff laughs, because of course he’s the one who’s cooking, since he’s the only person in this cabin who actually knows what he’s doing.

“Chicken parmesan?” Jeff asks.

“Yeah, sounds good. You want me to help?”

“Sure,” Jeff replies and gently takes him by the arms and pushes him backwards out of the kitchen until he bumps into one of the chairs at the breakfast bar. “Sit here and look pretty.”

Kent stands on his tiptoes to give Jeff a kiss. “I…” He could say it right now. Chance Number One is presenting itself on a silver platter. “I can do that. I’ll be _so_ pretty.”

Jeff laughs. “You want dessert?”

“We don’t have dessert for every day, do we?”

“We can go buy more.”

“Fine, so yes to dessert,” Kent says. He winks at Jeff. “I already have a bunch of things in mind.”

Jeff’s cheeks turn faintly pink.

Kent watches him shuffle back into the kitchen. He doesn’t say _I love you_. He still has more than enough time, though. He’ll do it. He’s ready.

 

**#2**

There’s another cabin across the lake and whoever owns it, or is renting it, has brought along about a dozen kids and three dogs. Kent has been squinting across the lake all day, trying to figure out what breeds they are.

He’s been reading up on dog breeds because Jeff wants to get a dog, but Kent isn’t sure if Kit would get along with a dog, or if a dog would get along with Kit. He’s definitely not in a position where he can talk Jeff out of getting a dog, because at this point he just doesn’t know where this is going to go. Because, sure, he knows that he loves Jeff, but sometimes loving someone isn’t enough to make a relationship work.

There’s just too many variables with them. There’s hockey, and the fact that they have to hide this, and no-trade clauses with holes in them, and a living situation that doesn’t work for either of them. They don’t live together, but Kent is sure that Jeff would move in if he asked him, but then people would ask questions. There’s a few guys on the team who know about them and maybe it’s an open secret in the league that Kent is gay, but, for now, that’s it.

It’s too soon to make decisions like that.

“Are you afraid of jumping in?”

Kent looks around. “Huh?”

Jeff is right behind him, wearing his flower trunks and the ugliest flip-flops Kent has ever seen. Nobody is totally perfect, not even Jeff Troy.

Kent isn’t sure for how long he’s been standing at the end of the dock, staring down at the water, but it’s been at least a couple of minutes. He’s been standing here since Jeff went back inside because he forgot to put sunscreen on his face. Now he still has some of it on his cheek and Kent wipes it off for him.

“Just waiting for you,” Kent says.

Jeff grins and wraps his arms around Kent from behind. Kent almost wants to squirm away, because they’re outside and someone could see and his heart instantly picks it up a notch, although that could also be Jeff’s fault. Honestly, it probably is. There’s no one around, though, not even the kids they saw earlier.

Kent leans back against Jeff’s chest. He could stand here all day, with Jeff’s arms around him and the sun shining down on them.

There isn’t enough time for moments like this one during the season. He’s always on schedule. Even when they have a day off, the next day there’s practice or a game, and an interview here, a meeting there. But now he has two weeks of absolutely nothing ahead of him and he’s going to enjoy every single second.

Jeff nuzzles into Kent’s hair, kisses the back of his neck, his shoulder, then he asks, “You don’t have your phone, right?”

“No, I–” Kent yelps when Jeff lifts him off his feet.

“Well, then, in we go,” Jeff says and pulls Kent into the lake with him.

When they both resurface, Jeff is grinning, hair in his face, and he catches Kent around the waist to pull him into shallower waters where they can both stand. Kent wraps his legs around Jeff’s waist, and before he leans in to kiss him, he almost says it.

Almost.

 

**#3**

“Okay, one more,” Kent says and holds out his empty glass.

Jeff pours him some more wine and sets the bottle down precariously close to the edge of the table. He snorts and pushes at it. “I gotta stop with the wine.”

“No, don’t stop with the wine,” Kent says. The words don’t come out right, but he doesn’t care. It’s late and they’re sitting on the porch, curled around each other on the lounge. The air is starting to get cooler, but with all the wine he’s had and with Jeff’s arm wrapped around him, Kent barely even notices.

He loves a tipsy Jeff. Because after some wine, Jeff gets handsy and giggly, which is why Jeff’s hand has been on Kent’s ass since their first glass of wine and he’s only moved it to get even more wine, and he’s also been laughing at his own jokes that get less funny by the minute and it’s hilarious and Kent can’t stop smiling and his cheeks are starting to hurt.

“Okay, a little more wine,” Jeff says and snatches away Kent’s glass.

“I didn’t mean _my_ wine.”

“Bottle’s empty.”

“Fine,” Kent says, slowly trailing his fingers down Jeff’s chest. “I’ll share.”

“That’s so generous of you.”

“I know,” Kent says and pushes up Jeff’s shirt. “That’s just who I am as a person.”

Jeff puts down the glass, almost empty now. “What’re you doing?”

Kent grins and bends down to blow raspberries on Jeff’s stomach. Jeff giggles and it’s the most ridiculous and most beautiful sound in the world. Kent could whisper an _I love you_ against Jeff’s skin, but now just doesn’t feel like the right time.

Tomorrow. Maybe.

 

**#4**

Thunder rumbles in the distance.

Kent glares at the clouds that have been gathering overhead. He thought they might pass, but now it looks like they’ll get rained on if they don’t get a move on soon.

They’re lying on the dock, at the shallow end where the trees around the house are giving them some shade. Jeff is fast asleep on a hot pink air mattress and he’s snoring quietly, while Kent is sitting next to him with his legs dangling into the water, taking selfies with Jeff drooling in the background. For personal use. As most photos of them are.

Kent posts a few on Instagram here and there. The two of them hanging out, having dinner with the boys, going for a run together. Stuff that teammates do. But he sure as hell won’t post anything that practically spells out, _Hey, I’m on vacation with my boyfriend and we’re staying in a cabin in the woods, just the two of us, and we’re being hella gay_. Well, he would, except PR would take his head off and if he does this one day – or, to be perfectly honest, _when_ he does this one day – he won’t do it without a strategy.

Kent looks down at Jeff, wondering if he’ll still be there when Kent takes that step. They haven’t talked about it yet. Seems like it’s too early. It feels much easier to say _I love you_.

What if he said it now? With Jeff still asleep. Jeff wouldn’t hear it, so Kent would be cheating. He’s not going to cheat. When Jeff is concerned, there won’t be any cheating, or easy ways out, or shortcuts. None of that.

A drop of rain lands on Kent’s thigh.

He sighs and reaches behind him to give Jeff’s ankle a squeeze. “Jeff, honeybun…”

Jeff jerks awake and almost slides off his air mattress. “What the fuck, Parse?” He rubs his eyes. “What–” A raindrop lands right on his cheek and he makes a face. Another one lands on his nose, and one on his hand, and a few on his legs. Kent has never seen anyone look this offended because of a little rain. “Since when is it raining?” Jeff asks.

“Since two seconds ago,” Kent replies and frowns at the dark clouds. Maybe it’s not just a little rain. “We should probably head inside.”

“Yeah, we…” Jeff trails off and jumps to his feet when the rain starts coming down on them in earnest.

A gust of wind sweeps across the lake and Kent has to catch Jeff’s air mattress.

“Come on,” Jeff says, grabs their towels, and they both start running, but it’s already too late. By the time they duck under the roof, they’re both wet from head to toe. It’s a good thing they weren’t wearing too many clothes to begin with.

Jeff tiptoes into the house to get them dry towels and Kent watches the wind pick up. By the time Jeff wraps the biggest towel they have around Kent’s shoulders, Kent is already shivering a little.

“I got you a hoodie and sweatpants as well, they’re inside,” Jeff says and nudges Kent in through the door.

“That’s so sweet of you,” Kent says and winks at Jeff. He lets Jeff push him along and shimmies out of his trunks on the way. Then he drops his towel. “Or…”

“Or?” Jeff looks down at him with raised eyebrows. He’s clearly trying to go for something like, _You’re such a weirdo, Parse_ , but he likes it. He’s trying way too hard not to smile.

“Or,” Kent says and takes a step back so Jeff has a better view, “we could ignore that we own clothes and do something gay.”

 

**#5**

“Help me.”

Kent looks around, abandoning their cereal for a moment. He’s making breakfast, because he was honestly starting to feel bad for always letting Jeff cook for him. Sure, Jeff enjoys it, but Kent wasn’t starving before Jeff walked into his life. He can make some things, like cereal, so he promised he’d take care of breakfast this morning.

There’s Raisin Bran for Jeff, because his cereal preferences are honestly the actual worst, and Fruit Loops for him. He’s on vacation, for fuck’s sake, so he’s not eating anything healthy if he can help it. Last night Jeff put salad on their burgers and Kent pulled it out of his bun in an impulsive act of rebellion. Jeff only laughed at him and put Kent’s salad on his burger instead.

“You okay?” Kent asks, because he told Jeff to go sit outside and wait for him, but now he’s standing in the door, looking mildly worried.

“You gotta help me with something,” Jeff says and vaguely waves at the porch.

“Sure,” Kent says and follows Jeff outside. “What’s wrong?”

Jeff only nods at the wall.

“What?”

“Right there,” Jeff says.

“I don’t– Oh.” It’s a spider. It’s not even that big, just a teensy tiny spider. There are probably a billion just like that one around here. He probably shouldn’t mention that, though. “I got it.”

Jeff clears his throat and takes a step back. “Thanks.”

Kent takes a glass, catches the spider with it and released it over by a tree, far enough away from them.

As soon as he’s back on the porch, Jeff takes the glass away from him. “We’re not using that. It’s contaminated.”

Kent grins. “Aw, babe. Let’s put that in the dishwasher.” He ruffles Jeff’s hair. “It was really big and scary.”

“I know, right?” Jeff says. “Biggest one I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, _really_?”

Jeff rolls his eyes. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that I’d called the Innuendo Squad.”

“Please,” Kent says. “Innuendos? In my house? I don’t think so.”

Laughing quietly, Jeff nudges him into the house.

It would be easy to say it. It feels so true to him right now. He loves Jeff Troy, who’s one of the biggest guys on his team and who’s also scared of itsy bitsy spiders.

Kent doesn’t say it and he has no idea why.

 

**#6**

Two weeks. They’ve been at the cabin for two weeks and Kent’s mission clearly hasn’t been a success.

They have breakfast on the porch one last time.

They pack up their belongings.

Jeff washes the sheets and folds all their blankets.

Outside it’s pouring and Jeff has taken the car as close to the front door as possible, but there are some flower beds and shrubbery in the way and they’ll have to make several trips from the house to the car and they’ll most likely still get drenched. They didn’t bring umbrellas and Jeff has been grumbling about it all day, because there should be a bunch in the cabin and he spent half an hour looking for them earlier. Needless to say, he didn’t find them.

“Ready to go?” Jeff asks.

Kent almost says no. He’s not ready to leave this place and go back to Vegas. Well, they’re going to his mom’s house for a couple of days to pick up Kit, and maybe Kent will talk Jeff into coming on a spontaneous trip to Disney World or France or fucking New Zealand, because Kent knows that Jeff has always wanted to go there, because that’s where they made _The Lord of the Rings_ and Jeff is a huge nerd.

“Yeah,” Kent mumbles, “I’m ready.”

“You got your phone charger? Your phone? The hoodie you stole from me?”

“Shit, I forgot about the hoodie,” Kent says and runs back into the house. His hoodie – actually Jeff’s hoodie – ended up on the floor last night and Kent doesn’t remember putting it into his suitcase, so he must have left it in their bedroom.

He eventually pulls it out from under the bed. It’s a little dusty, but Kent pulls it on anyway.

Jeff grins at him when Kent joins him downstairs. Jeff has managed to shove most of their stuff into the car, but now his hair is wet and his light gray shirt has nearly turned see-through.

“Shit, look at you,” Kent says, “it’s like you’re about to go star in _Magic Mike_.”

Jeff pulls at his shirt with a smirk and then turns around to move something in the trunk, wiggling his ass as he does.

Kent laughs. That goofball is the fucking love of his life. Right now is, like, the worst moment ever to say _I love you_. Which is why it’s the exact right moment.

All those other times he was going to say it would have made it romantic and perfect. He’s not romantic and he’s not perfect. He’ll never be. Kent is a fucking mess and Jeff still loves him and that’s why he needs to say it right now, in the rain, approximately five seconds before they’re about to leave.

“Hey, Jeff?”

Jeff turns around, smirking at Kent. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Jeff’s smirk turns into a soft smile. He quickly comes over to Kent and gives him a gentle kiss that tastes like rainwater. “I love you, too,” Jeff says when he pulls away.

“Be honest,” Kent says, “for how long have you wanted to say that?”

“I wasn’t–” Jeff sighs and kisses the top of his head. “A while.”

Kent pats Jeff’s wet shirt. He doesn’t want this to become some sort of Big Moment. That was the whole point for him, wasn’t it? That he’d just say it and it wouldn’t be a big deal. He has to say one more thing, though, because his therapist always tells him how important communication is and he’s trying to be better, right? “Thanks for waiting.”

Jeff gives Kent a squeeze and he’s getting Kent all wet, but Kent couldn’t care less. “Of course,” Jeff says.

Yeah. Jeff loves him and the whole entire mess that he is.

“Okay,” Kent says and grabs their last bag. “I’m ready to go now.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated :)
> 
> I'm @zimmermaenner on AO3 if you want to drop by!


End file.
